Shoe-fastening



(No Model.)

S. H. RAYMOND.

SHOE FASTENING.

No. 325,115. Patented Aug. 25, 1885.

lhvirisn stares PATENT @rrrcn.

SILAS ll. RAYMOND, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICIIIG; X.

SHOE-FASTENING.

CPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 325,115, dated August 25, 1885.

Application filed April 8, 1885.

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to air-improvement in shoefastcnings.

Hitherto the manufacture of shoe-fastenings has required two or more step and in cases where a closed eye has been formed it has invariably reqnired to be handled and operated upon two or three times before it was ready to receive the shoe lacing. In articles so universally used and having a slight initial cost the saving of one handling or of one step in the manufacture becomes of the highest importance to both the mamifacturer and consumer, as it admits of a reduced cost to both.

The object of my present invention is to provide a fastening for shoes, gloves, corsets, &c., which will admit of being formed from a blank by a single operation, and which may be inserted in position for use and locked in the same without any change in its shape or any unusual means of fastenings. A further object is to provide a fastening which, when secured in position in a shoe or other article, will present a fiat smooth surface to the portion of the bot y beneath it, and thus save the annoyance so often resulting from sharp corners of fastenings.

\Vith these ends in view my invention con sists in a flat metal plate or disk having slits formed therein and an eye struck up from the material located between the slits.

In the accompz'iuying drawings, Figure l is a view of one form of metal blank. Fig. 2 is a view of the completed fastening, and Fig. 3 shows the same applied to a portion of ashoe upper. Fig. is another form of blank, and Fig. shows the same in shape for use.

A represents the blank. It pjeferably oval in shape, and. consists of a p'rfectly flat thin plate of brass, steel, blocl' tin, copper, white metal, or any other metal or metallic composition which may be found desirable.

The blank is placed upon a female die of the form of the proposed eyeportion a, and a (No model.)

male cutter and die corresponding to the inside shape of the eye portion is pressed in contact therewith, first cutting a pair of parallel slits, I), the cutters then stopping and the die advancing and pressing the eye a into its completed form. The metal must necessarily be capable of being slightly drawn out and bent, in order to prevent any liability to break. The eye a thus formed is pressed inwardly through a small oblong perforation or slit, 0, in the leather (Z, cloth, or other material in which it is placed, and is securely retaincdin place either by the cloth lining which is commonly placed in the shoe, and which is coir vcniently placed beneath the plate A, or by the lacing c, which, passing through the eye a, prevents it from receding through the socket, or the material through which the eye passes will ordinarily close within the eye and press about it with suffic ent force to hold it effectually in place.

The insert-ion of the eye requires the slightest possible mutilation of the material and holds the lacing as securely in position as the eyelet commonly set in the edges of the leather, while the lacing is not interposed between the flesh and laced material, and the disagreeable pressure often caused thereby is obviated.

For the purpose of applying the eyelet to cloth or material which would haveatendcncy to unravel, the blank Ais provided with sharp prongs a; integral therewith and extending outwardly from its edges, as shown in Fig. 4, which prongs may be bent downwardly to pierce the cloth and secure thcblank firmly to the cloth by having their points clinched on the under side.

It is evident that the plate may be made of 0 different thicknesses and other shapes than/ oval, and that the eye may be bent in other forms than U shape, and have any approved shape in crosssection; hence I do notwish to limit myself strictly to the form and construction shown and described, but reserve the privilege of making such changes as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I am aware that it is not new to provide a concave or dish-shaped clip for attaching handles to Satchels with an eye struck up from the body of the clip, and hence I make no claim, broadly, to such construction.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters I formed in said upper or article, substantially Patent, .is as shown and described.

A shoe or other fastener, consisting, essen- In testimony whereof I have signed this tially, of a flat disk or plate having a central specification in the presence of two subscribing integral eyelet or loop struck up therefrom, Witnesses. the said disk or plate adapted'to be employed SILAS H. RAYMOND. beneath on the inner side of the material form- WVitnesses:

OYRUs E. PERKINS,

l ing' the shoe-upper or other article with the I M. A. CHAPMAN.

eyelet or loop passing through an opening 

